Two Teachers Travel To Crete

So, it has been a whirlwind of emotions for us since we hit the submit button on the Fund For Teachers grant proposal.  We knew the waiting was going to be torture .  Unlike Ali, I told many people about it.  I was confident in our proposal writing as we did our research and sought out suggestions from other fellows; however, there was the chance that maybe ours was not one of the proposals that would stand out the most. There was no certainty as there would be thousands of grant applicants.  The countdown began from that day forward. With only 10 days left, we began the countdown - sending text messages daily to each other with GIFs. April 5th finally arrived.  We couldn't bear the suspense as the clock ticked.  Each minute seemed like an hour, each hour like a day.  We texted back and forth (while teaching of course!).  Finally, minutes before 4:00pm we got the news!  We both received congratulations letters! The following day, I shared the letter with my second-period cl

April 5th. Results day! Like I mentioned in our last post, we were anxious and excited all day! A bit more background--LAST year, a few Waterbury teachers were also recipients of the fellowship. One of them, was surprised on April 4th by the FFT team! So, as you can imagine, Doreen and I were already thinking the worst. Time ticked on. Then, at 3:50 PM my phone sounded to signal another email notification. This time is was from FFT! All I saw in the subject line was "Congratulations!" before I even opened the email. I called Doreen and told her to check her email. As she was opening it up, I just blurted it out, WE ARE GOING TO PRAGUE! My next phone call was to my husband (I was not home at the time of the email) to which his response to my freak out was "I'm so proud of you, and I already knew you had it." Ummmmm, WHAT?!  Then, I texted my principal the great news and her response: "WOOHOO!" As it turns out, both my principal and Doreen's prin

First, we are so incredibly thankful, excited, and blessed to be able to be write this blog. Doreen and I spent very long hours writing up a very detailed proposal to apply for the prestigious Fund For Teachers Grant. My very first blog post will explain the background of how this all came to be... As seen on their About Us section of their website,  Fund For Teachers  " supports educators' efforts to develop skills, knowledge and confidence that impact student achievement. By trusting teachers to design unique fellowships, Fund for Teachers grants validate teachers' professionalism and leadership, as well. Since 2001, Fund for Teachers has invested 30 million in nearly 8,000 teachers, transforming grants into growth for teachers and their students." Doreen and I were introduced to this prestigious grant by our district. The proposal was due January 31st so around the holiday break at the end of December we began a conversation about applying. Doreen and I are tra